Westminster College Celebrates UWC Day
Westminster joined thousands of other schools and individuals around the world on Sunday, Sept. 21 to celebrate UWC Day, with a campus barbeque at noon in the gardens of the Churchill Institute near the Churchill Museum. Westminster’s International Club hosted the event.
Thousands of UWC students from 175 different countries have finished their last two years of high school at one of 14 UWC campuses before heading off to college. Many attend one of the 91 US colleges, such as Westminster, eligible for the Davis UWC need-based scholarships. Since Westminster enrolled its first UWC scholar in 2002 (Vytas Stonis ’06 from Lithuania), the College has been the beneficiary of 285 Davis UWC Scholars from 99 different countries.
The Davis UWC Scholarship program started with 5 colleges and 43 scholars from 31 countries in the fall of 2000. As of May, 2014, these 91 U.S. colleges have enrolled 5,508 scholars from 148 countries. Fittingly, the first UWC campus, Atlantic College, was started in 1962 in the UK in Wales. Thirteen other countries are now home to UWC campuses: Armenia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Canada (Victoria), Costa Rica, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, Swaziland and the United States (located in Montezuma, NM).
When adding non-UWC international students to our count, Westminster has been represented by nearly 120 countries since 2002. The Davis UWC Scholarship program is the largest funded private scholarship program in the world, thanks to retired investors, Shelby & Gail Davis. Their generosity has made college possible for thousands of students and benefitted 91 colleges, like Westminster, with the private scholarships these students receive to help pay for their college educations.
There are no words in the English language adequate to thank them for “making a difference” here and forever in our students’ lives. It is just quite remarkable!
Article by Pat Kirby, Coordinator for International Student Admissions at Westminster College
